Steak au Poivre (Peppered Steak)

One of my favorite French meals is Steak au Poivre.  I used to go to the touristy area in the Latin quarter and get a prix fixe meal for 10 Euros. I always got the Steak au Poivre.  It probably wasn't the best Paris had to offer but it hit the spot for a college student. 

The other day I was feeling that we needed to have a special night.  Special nights for us normally mean red meat for dinner.  There was a pretty good deal at the store for Filet Mignon so I got a package of two. To up the flavors I started searching for a good recipe and came across a Steak au Poivre sauce. It took all of two seconds to decide this was what I wanted to make.

Peppered Steak

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients (4 steaks)

• Salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 Tbsp black peppercorns, cracked
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or onions
• 1/4 cup cognac or other brandy
• 1 cup beef broth

Instructions

Sprinkle salt generously over both sides of the steaks and let them come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. (Use a pan that can handle high heat. Cast iron works well for this, or anodized aluminum.) When the oil begins to smoke, take the pan off the heat. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels (steaks brown better if they are patted dry first) and place in the hot pan. Return the pan to the heat and turn the heat down to medium-high. Sear, without moving the steaks, for at least 4 minutes. Try to pick up a steak with tongs, and if it comes clean, flip it and turn the heat down to medium. If it sticks to the pan, let it cook for another minute or two on that side.

Once the steak is done to your liking remove the meat to a baking sheet and sprinkle on a generous portion of crushed black peppercorns on both sides of each steak. Tent with aluminum foil and let the steak rest while you are preparing the sauce.

To make the sauce, add the shallots and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the brandy and as it boils, deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon (helps to have one with a straight edge) to dislodge all the browned bits. Once the brandy is almost cooked away, add the beef stock and turn the heat to high. Boil the sauce down until there's a noticeable trail when you drag a wooden spoon through the center of it (4-5 minutes).

Turn off the heat and add the parsley and any remaining black pepper (no more than 1 Tbsp, the rest should have already been used to pepper the steaks). Taste for salt and add if needed.

Pour the sauce over the steaks right when you serve.

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